According to the press release by World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa’s fish stock has been overexploited by 65 percent and so the government could not look to commercial fishing to create jobs. The release also states that the fishing sector of the country has the capacity to secure existing 140000 jobs.
WWF also said that the fishing sector is among those the government has earmarked to help create the 5-million new jobs promised in the New Growth Path, by 2015. Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries informed that commercial fisheries contribute 0,5 percent of gross domestic product (R3,1bn in 2008) and employ about 27000 people, with another 100000 employed in fishery-related enterprises.
WWF CEO Morne du Plessis said that fisheries sectoris important in SA and so it not possible to look at job creation and have fish in the sea. He added that there is a need to look at job security for the people already in fishing. WWF said that advances in fishing technology had increased the proportion of overexploited, depleted or recovering world fish stocks from 10 percent in 1974 to 32 percent in 2008.
